Dear Dr. SETI:Do you know of any scientific investigations into Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence in a more broad scope, i.e., not limited merely to microwave surveys of space? I'm interested in scientific investigations in a broader sense, that would include such analyses as the "Mars rocks".

B.C.

The Doctor Responds:
At present, I know of no funded broad SETI studies. (For that matter, the microwave surveys aren't presently being funded either!) But certainly those of us even in "traditional SETI" are very interested in the related studies involving fossil evidence, planetary detections, etc. SETI is, after all, a highly interdisciplinary science. If we in The SETI League appear to be emphasizing microwave radioastronomy, it's only because it's what we're trained for and know best. But we certainly welcome and respect scientific studies into all related phenomena.

Still in the electromagnetic realm, but not involving microwaves, is optical SETI. The Columbus Optical SETI Observatory, run by our colleague Dr. Stuart Kingsley, is the premier amateur effort in this field. We have done some preliminary range analysis of optical SETI, and consider this a worthy area for our members to explore further.

As for Mars meteorite find, two completely different takes can be found on the Web. See these two URLs: